Chapter 89: The bankruptcy of Guigu Bank
The second year of the Jing Kang period, the twenty-third day of the first lunar month, at the time of Si.
In the Purple Palace, officials stood in order of their seats, waiting for Zhao Huan's arrival.
"Long live the emperor!"
"My dear ministers, please stand up!"
"Thank you very much!"
After the usual greetings, today's meeting began.
"I have something to report!" His voice was loud and his steps were firm.
Zhao Huan looked at Nie Chang, the prefect of Kaifeng, and replied calmly, "Approved."
"Kaifeng Prefecture, Bianliang City has four major government granaries, and the Rice Granary is one of them. During the war against the Jin soldiers, according to Your Majesty's request, the imperial court collected grain from the people and allocated it uniformly. After the war, the principal and interest were repaid at a monthly rate of 5%. Your Majesty, is this true?"
"Yes, it is true. How come someone dared to commit fraud and fail to return the grain to the people according to regulations?"
Nie Chang continued, "No. What I want to report is closely related to this. I am impeaching Tang Keli, a doctor in the Ministry of Revenue, for taking advantage of the war to defraud merchants of their wealth and refusing to return it."
"Your Majesty, I am innocent. Nie Chang is blatantly slandering me. Your Majesty, please seek justice for me." Tang Keli emerged from the ranks with a look of grievance, staring at Nie Chang righteously. He had nothing to fear from his own shadow, and he was right about things he hadn't done.
"Stop arguing. This is the imperial court, not a market. Prefect Nie, please explain in detail."
"Your Majesty, there are four large-scale banks in Bianliang City, and this Guigu Bank is registered under the name of Doctor Tang's brother-in-law."
"Is opening a bank illegal? This was something the retired emperor encouraged the major families to establish during his reign. It's an honor, and it helps the country."
"Doctor Tang, please listen to what I have to say."
"Since November of last year, the Jin troops' southward advance has caused widespread panic. Many merchants in Bianliang are preparing to transfer their assets south. Liu Shuqing, the head of the Guigu Bank, seized the opportunity to publicize that the mastermind behind the scenes is Doctor Tang, and that the court is guaranteeing their assets. He told numerous merchants that there was no need to transfer their silver south; it was safe with the Guigu Bank. They only needed to pay a handling fee of 100 taels of silver, and the money could be safely stored at the Guigu Bank until the end of the war, and interest would be calculated as usual during this period."
"Prefect Nie, what exactly are you trying to say? Isn't this a normal business practice? What else can a bank do if it doesn't deposit money? Bianliang City has been defended, and Guigu Bank has fulfilled its promise of foolproof security. 100 taels of silver isn't excessive, is it?" Tang Keli looked at Nie Chang sternly, "This is the imperial court. What exactly do you want to say?"
Zhao Huan didn't understand what Nie Chang meant. At the moment, it sounded like normal business behavior.
"Doctor Tang, yesterday several people went to Kaifeng Prefecture to accuse Liu Shuqing of refusing to return the money deposited by merchants in the city with Guigu Bank."
"Is there some misunderstanding here? Why wouldn't the bank refund the money? Did they pocket the money?"
Nie Chang pulled out a piece of paper from his humiliation and read, "This is the notice posted on the door of Guigu Money House. Due to the rebellion of Wang Fu and Tong Guan, the debts lent out by Guigu Money House have been repossessed by the state treasury. Guigu Money House has no funds to cover its debts and is unable to operate normally. We hereby declare bankruptcy. We deeply apologize for this. To merchants who have deposited money with Guigu Money House, we can only compensate them with 250 taels of silver per person."
Tang Keli snatched the note from Nie Chang's hand and read it word by word. After a long moment, he said dejectedly, "I was indeed unaware of this matter beforehand."
Zhao Huan looked at Tang Keli, whose front and back contrast was obvious, and felt that he was indeed unaware of the situation.
"It's not important. After the court session, you can handle it yourselves. Whether you're a commoner or a merchant, since you've accepted fees, you must guarantee them to the end. Bankruptcy won't help; you'll bear unlimited joint and several liability until the full repayment. As for lending money to the rebels, considering it was unintentional, I won't pursue any responsibility."
This is really rare. A bank bankruptcy actually happened in the Song Dynasty. Moreover, this guy named Liu Shuqing was quite advanced in thinking. He knew about bankruptcy and wanted to only bear limited liability. Ha, what a wish.
Who knows if what you said is true? Who knows if you think merchants are easy to bully and want to seize their property? You gave each person 250 taels of silver. How could you write that? Is 250 taels of silver enough for someone's living expenses for a week?
Anyway, the money that has entered the national treasury cannot be returned, so you have to pay for it yourself.
"Prefect Nie, continue to maintain your attitude of being truly capable and doing good for the people. Don't let small acts of kindness go unrewarded."
The meeting continued, and the people from the Imperial Astronomical Observatory made their presence felt for once. They sorted out a major problem that restricted the development of agriculture in the Song Dynasty and wrote a long memorial, which was a response to Zhao Huan's request for advice.
First, let's look at the data. In the Liangzhe region, centered around the Taihu Lake basin, the yield per mu reached seven dan (approximately 1.5 dan) of land, meaning that just one and a half mu (approximately 1.5 acres) of land could feed one person. Compared to the previous dynasty, this efficiency had roughly tripled.
A major problem restricting the development of agriculture was the lack of sufficient agricultural tools. Although it was remembered that the Song Dynasty had powerful weapons such as the crossbow and the Shenbi bow, its production of swords, armor and armor lagged behind that of the Liao, Jin and Western Xia.
The Song Dynasty did not have enough copper and iron. Given the priority of supplying military equipment, there was very little iron left for agriculture, and there was a huge shortage of metal machinery.
After an in-depth analysis, it was found that the iron deficiency was due to the fact that there had been no breakthrough in ventilation and drainage in the mine, and the efficiency of mining in the underground mine was relatively low.
Zhao Huan shook his head after listening to this. This thing was more or less beyond the scope of the subject. Ventilation and drainage were a bit professional, but it didn't matter. He could take a look at it first. He knew some simple physics knowledge and might be able to come up with some suggestions.
"It's too difficult. It would be great if there was a system so I could directly exchange it for a technological blueprint. At the very least, it would be ok to have a library in my mind to look up information, even if it takes some effort." Zhao Huan was also helpless. He didn't have any golden fingers.
In the final analysis, this only solved the problem of insufficient tools, which was very different from what Zhao Huan thought.
Nutrition is essential to increasing yields. To ensure that crops get enough nutrients, no one can innovate the formula of a few chemical fertilizers, nitrogen fertilizers, ammonia fertilizers. We can't rely solely on farmyard manure, as the manure produced by humans and animals is not enough.
"Let's leave the agricultural matters here for now. Food is the most important thing for the people. After this court session, please consider how to increase grain production. I will generously reward those who come up with good ideas. If there is nothing else, please adjourn."
Zhao Huan returned to Funing Palace and sat at the desk in the meeting room, looking worried. This was going to be a tough one. Sure enough, after traveling through time, he still had to learn math, physics, and chemistry well. Liberal arts students had no future.
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